Exodus
Author: Moses
Written: c. 1500 B.C.
Background: Moses was born in 1525 BC and spent the first forty years of his life in the courts of Pharaohs Thutmose I and II and Queen Hatshepsut. Spent the next forty years in self-imposed exile during the reign of Thutmose III. Returned to be Israel’s leader during the reign of Amenhotep I, the pharaoh of the Exodus.
Key Verse: “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. (Exodus 19:5)
Outline of Exodus
Egypt: Sin (Galatians 1:4; Romans 6:18)
The Lamb: Lamb of God Jesus (John 1:29)
The Blood: Atonement, shedding of Christ’s Blood (Romans 3:25)
The eating of the lamb: Christ’s body
The crossing of the Red Sea: passing from sin (law) to life (grace)
Commandments fulfil the 10-fold will of God.
Civil law was added to prescribe penalties and directions for enforcement.
Tabernacle in Hebrew means “dwelling.”
Our salvation was designed by God before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4)
Exodus is the historical picture of divine grace in the redemption of man by God to Himself through Jesus Christ.
Hyssop – common weed, obtainable by everybody, typical of faith.
Mt. Sinai Calvary
Law Blood
Genesis – beginning of redemption
Exodus – progress of redemption
Moses spent:
- 40 years thinking he was somebody
- 40 years learning he was nobody
- 40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody
Bird’s Eye View
• Israel in bondage
• Israel redeemed
• Israel journeying to Sinai
• Israel given the Law
• Israel in worship
Central theme is REDEMPTION BY THE BLOOD.
Genesis – redemption worked out through individuals
Exodus – redemption worked out through a nation
God’s purpose was to have a people whose testimony to the world would be “saved by the power of God!”
Israel’s deliverance was great and supernatural. It could only have been done by the power of God.
The Miracles and the Plagues
These were also God’s way of judging the gods of Egypt and proving them false and futile.
Aaron’s rod turning into a serpent – the serpent was one of the special creatures in Egyptian religion, particularly, the cobra, which was a symbol of immortality.
Many of the plagues were associated with various Egyptian deities.
• Water becoming blood - The Egyptians treated the Nile River like a god. Hapi and Isis were the god and goddess of the Nile.
• Frogs - Hequet, the goddess of resurrection and fertility had the head of a frog.
• Gnats - Desert dust became gnats. Judgement against Set, the Egyptian god of the desert.
• Flies - The fly was sacred to the Egyptian god, Uatchit.
• Livestock diseased - The Egyptians venerated cattle and many of their gods were identified with bulls, cows, rams, and other livestock.
• Locusts – By sending locusts the Lord triumphed over Osiris, the god of fertility and crops.
• Darkness – The sun was associated with their greatest god, Ra, as well as Horus.
• Death of the first-born – First born sons were considered sacred in Egypt.
“Wilderness” refers to land that contains little vegetation or tree, and because of lack of rainfall, cannot be cultivated. It is land best used for tending flocks of animals.
Mt. Sinai also known as Mt. Horeb, the mountain of God.
Unleavened bread – leaven is a yeast and often used in Scripture as a symbol of sin. Just as a small amount of yeast affects the whole bread, so a small amount of sin makes a person unable to enter the presence of God.
Bitter herbs – a reminder of the bitterness of slavery.
